Continuous-wire-drawing machinery.



J. P. DOOLEY.

CONTINUOUS WIRE DRAWING MACHINERY.

APPLICATION FILED DEC-26,1913. Patente01 Jan. 16,1917.

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N Ml messefi. Q? mesooley J. P. DO0LEY.-

CONTINUOUS WIRE DRAWING MACHINERY.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 25,.1913- m Patented Jan. 16,1911.

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JAMES P. DUQL EY, DIE WORUESTER, MASSACHUSETTEa, ASSIGNUF, TU I CUMPANY, @li WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, it. CORPORATTUN Uh WIMSAUHUSIETTS.

CUNTTNUOUS-WIlEtlE-JDRAWTNG MAUREEN aramie,

specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan, 1th, ilhll'th with the accompanying drawings, is a speci fication.

' This invention relates to an improvement in that class of wire drawing machinery in which the wire to be drawn is reduced in diameter a number of times by being successively passed through a series or dies in one continuous drawing process. l

in drawing wire by the continuous process, it has been the practice heretot'ore' to provide adjacent each reducing die of the series, and in position to draw the wire therethrough, a drawing or forwarding drum, the wire being given a number of turns around each of said drums in order to insure of its being forwarded at a speed substantially equal to the peripheral speed of the drum. Each drumot the series is given a greater peripheral speed than the one next preceding, in order to allow for the elongation of the wire due to its reduction in diameter. lit sometimes happens, owing to unusual resistances arising in the drawing voperation, that the predetermined peripheral speed of one or more of the drums becomes greater than the speed at which the wire is traveling, which condition causes a relative slipping between the wire and drum, resulting in a roughening of the Wire and a scoring of the drum. The same detrimental eil'ect is also apparent, when, by reason of an unexpected decrease in one or more or the resistances to the drawing operation, the speed at which the wire is traveling exceeds the peripheral speed of the forwarding drum.

Various attempts, allot them involving more or less complicated mechanisms, have been made, with the'end in view of overcoming these difliculties inherent in the op eration. of continuous wire drawing machines. it has been proposed to regulate the speed of the drawing drums automatically by means of the tension of the wire that is being worked, and to this end change speed gearing has been employed in driving their respective pulleys.

the drawing drums, and automatic means, operated by an increase or a decrease in the tension of the wire, are utilized to shift the gears and thereby impart to the drum or drums a greater or less speed, as the case may be, It has also been proposed to drive .the drums by belts or cords, and to regulate the speed of said drums by varying the de-. gree of tightness of said belts or cords on This regulation is also edected automatically by the tension of the wire that is being worked.

Both of the 'instrumentalities above re- :lerred to involve complicated and expensive mechanism, and, furthermore, practice has demonstrated that each is only eiiective within narrow limits. The positive changespeed gearing by which the speed or rota tlon or one or more drums is suddenly in creased or decreased is certain to impart to the wire a more or less violent shock. The belt or cord driven drums of the other mechanism are inefficient and wasteful of power, and are not positive in action. Neither mechanism provides any means for com-pensating for any considerable resistance to the drawing operation, such as would arise either in the actual drawing ot the wire, or

in the feeding or the undrawn wire to the machine, and be of such degree as to cause the wire to break. Nor does either mecha nism provide any means whereby the machine may be stopped if there is a break in the Wire, or it the resistance to thedrawing operation rises above a predetermined point. On the contrary, in all machines heretofore used, the machine continues to run even after the wire is broken, until brought to a stop by the operator.

The present invention contemplates, in a continuous wire drawing machine, the elim: matron of all speed changing means oi? the character above referred to for the drawing or forwarding drums, and the provision or a series of positively driven drawing drums, having predetermined peripheral speeds, said speed so calculated as to reduce to a minimum the possibility of slippage between the drum and the wire that is being worked.

it is also proposed, in a machine of such character, to so proportion the successive .dies or the machine that the final die through whichthe wire is drawn merely shapes and smoothes the same, whereby the necessity for a heavy'draft on'the wire in its finally reduced state is avoided, thus minimizing the chances of breakage in the wire at its point of least cross section. And as a simple, inexpensive andreliable means for compensating for any differences in speed between the drums and the wire that is being worked, and also for providing an efficient check or limit upon the tension to which the wire is subjected during the operation of drawing, it is proposed toprovide, first, in connection with each drawing drum and die, a movable guide pulley for thewire,

normally held, by means of a weight, at its extreme limit of'move'ment,-but adapted,

when the tension of the wire increases, to

move, against the action of its weight in a direction to decrease the length of the wire employed for encircling it and thereby permit a' faster feeding of the wire in response to the increased tension; and second, it is' proposed to introduce so as to be effective at a point in the wire between said final die and the final drawing drum, where the tension is the resultant of all strains arislng in the drawing'operation, a positive stop mechanism adaptedto stop the operation of curs. In addition, there is provided means,

undergoing the drawing process of all strains incidental to the unwinding of the undrawn' wire from its reel or the feeding of the same to the machine, whereby any considerableresistance arising from such a cause will effect the stopping of the machine. In order that the invention may be readily understood, the machine will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which,

. Figure l is a front-elevation of the machine. certain parts being omitted, to render clearer the disclosure-of other parts. Fig. 3 is a detail view, on line 33, Fig. 2, illustrating the stop mechanism which is interposed between the final .drawing die and drawing drum. Similar reference characters refer to similar parts in the different figures.

The machine is carried by a frame consisting of spaced parallel members. 1, 1, suping transversely of said frame members, is

a main drive shaft 4c. The said shaft 4 is,

extended beyond the rear frame member 1 and is supported in a bearing 3' carried by a bracket 1' on said member, and this extended portion ofthe shaft 4 is provided with afast pulley 5 and. a loose pulley 6, either of which is adapted to be driven by a bait 7 connecting with a source of power,

Fig. 2 is a top plan viewthereof,

not shown. The belt 7 is adapted to be shifted from one pulley to the other, by means of a shifting fork 8, which is operated by mechanism to be hereinafter described.

Suitably spaced apart along the members 1, 1 are the transverse shafts 9, 9, 9 and 9 which are supported in bearingscarried by said members 1, 1, and which carry drawing drums 10, 10, 10 and 10 respectively, on portions thereof extending outwardly from the front member 1. The shaft 9 carrise a gear 11 which is in mesh with a pinion 12 carried by the'main drive shaft 4, whereby said shaft 9 is'positively rotated at a predetermined speed; and each of the succeeding shafts 9, 9 "and 9 is positively driven from the one next preceding by means of sprocket gearing indicated as a whole respectively by the numerals 13, 13 and 13 The drums 10, 10', 10 and 10 are identical in size, but the sprocket gearing between the shafts 9, 9, 9 and 9" is so pr oportioned as torotate each drum at a predetermined peripheral speed in excess of the predetermined peripheral speed of the drum next preceding, for a purpose which will the machine when a break in the wire ochereinafter appear.

Carried by the shaft 9 is a bevel gear 14 which meshes with a bevel pinion 15 carried by a vertical shaft 16, directly under the shaft 9 and supported by means of a thrust bearing 17. The shaft 16 drives a vertical shaft 19, supported in a thrust bearing 20 and journal bearing 21, by means of sprocket gearing 22, and said gearing 22 and the beveled gear Wheels 1 1 and .15 are so proportioned as to give to a vertical drum 23, mounted on the upper end of the shaft 19, a peripheral speed slightly in excess of the peripheral speed of the drawing drum 10 the said drum 23 constituting the final drawing drum of the series.

Adjacent the forward end of each shaft 9, 9, 9 and 9 and supported by the front frame member 1, are a number of upright standards 24, 24, 24: and 2%, the same heing-connected at their upper ends by a longitudinal brace 25. Each upright is recessed as at 26 throughout a major portion of its length and the walls of said recesses form guides for slides 27 which have journaled thereon guide pulleys 28. To each slide is attached a rope or chain 29, passing over a pulley 3O journaled on the brace member 25, and having on its other end a weight 31. The weights normally serve to keep theslides carrying the lide pulleys at their extreme uppermost positions. However, when the wire at any point in the drawing operation is subjected to unusual tension or strain, the'loweringof one or more of the pulleys 28, by draft on the wire passing thereover, will automatically compensate for such strain.

that end of the machine at which the wire is introduced, the front member'l is provided with a horizontal gu1deway32, on which is adapted to reciprocate a slide 33 carrying a pulley 84. Above sald guideway and in the same vertical plane as the pulley 34'is located a pulley 35 carrled on a member 36, which also is provided with a guiding aperture 37 for the wire. The wire m to be drawn is taken from a reel 38, journaled on a bracket 38 at the end of the machine, is passedunder and around pulley 34 and over pulley 35 through aperture 37 and is given a number of turns around the first drawing drum 10. From here 1t is carried up over the sliding pulley 28 and down through the first die box and die plate, in advance of the drawing drum 10. The several die boxes 39 are mounted on brackets 40 extending from the front memher 1, and each carries a guide pulley 41 under which the wire is passed prior to its passage through a die 42, in the forward end of the box. Tn each successive box of the 25 series, the dies 42 are gradually reduced in size, whereby the wire drawn therethrough is gradually elongated and, for this reason, the peripheral speeds of the several drawing drums are gradually increased from the i to drum 10 to the drum 10 Prior to its passage through each die 42, the wire is guided over the corresponding guide pulleys 28 and 41 until it ultimatelyreaches the final die box 39, which is similar'tothe preceding die boxes of the series,- but ismounted adjacent the vertical drum 23, so that the wire.

as it is drawn through the shaping die 43 thereof is tangential to the periphery of said drum, and is wound thereon prepara- 46 tory to being spooled in its final state.

The means by which the spooling is effected will now be described.

Mounted in bearings sus ended from the members 1 is a transverse s aft 44, which is rotated from the shaft 9 by means of pulleys 45 and 46 and abelt 47. The said shaft 44 is provided intermediate its endswith an intersecting right and left handed screw grooving 48, in whichis adapted to travel a member 49 pivoted in a box or sleeve 50 which surrounds the'shaft' The box 50 is connected by a link 51 to an intermediate point of a lever 52, pivoted at its lower end 53 and having at its upper end a slotted as connection with a horizontally disposed bar 54 slidable transversely of the machine in guides 55. The rotation of the shaft 44 causes the box56 to reciprocate thereon by reason of the alternate reversals of moveso ment imparted to the pivoted member 49 at each end of the grooving 48. At its front end the bar 54 carries a pair of rolls 57, between. which the wire is led from the drum 2'3 and thence onto the spool 58 de- 65 tachably carried by the shaft 59, said shaft being mounted in bearings 60 on the members 1, '1, which bearings 60 also carry the guides 55 for the reciprocating bar 54. The shaft 59 is rotated at aipredetermined speed by means of a belt 61 passing over pulleys 62 and 63 on the shaft 9 and on shaft'59 respectively, so proportioned that the pe ripheral speed of the spool is approximately equal to the peripheral speed of the drum .The bar 68 has a collar 71 secured thereto for a purpose which will presently appear. A lever 72, pivoted at its lower end 72 to a bracket in the floor, extends upwardly, and adjacent the bar 68 is enlarged in cross section as at 73, and formed with an aperture 73' which loosely encircles the bar 68 between the collar 71 and the bracket 70.

When the machine is running, the lever 72- is in the position shown in Figs. 1 and 2, with its-upper end above the bar 68 engaged by a notch 74 in a catch lever 75, pivoted on the top of thebracket 70 and passing behind said lever 72.

Secured to the bottom of thedast diebox is a bracket having a vertical arm 76, in

which isjournaled a pin 77 carrying a weighted member 78in the form of a bell crank. The edge of the weighted arm thereof rests lightly against the wire as the same passes from the final die 48 to the drum '23. The other arm of the bell crank 7 8 is pivotally connected to one end of a link 80, which link at its other end is pivoted to the catch lever 75. Upon the breaking of the wire at this point, which is its point of smallest cross section, the weight 78 will swing downward, and through link 80 will withdraw the catch lever 75 from its engagement with the lever 72. Upon the re lease of lever 72, a spring 81 secured at one end to the lever and at the other end to a fixed bracket or book 82 on the frame, serves to carry said lever and with it the bar 68, through the medium of the collar 71, to the left, in Fig. 2, whereby the other arm 67 of the bell crank 65 will be moved rearwardly- Said arm 67 has a pin and slot engagement with one end of a reciprocating rod 83, slidable in ways 84, 84, carriedby the frame, the other end of said rod having secured thereto, by means ofa standard 85, the belt fork 8. Through the medium of the above describedmechanism, the

belt 7 is shifted onto the lose pulley when the wire breaks at the point described, and

step the drawing process.

there is thus provided a mechanism for posi- 'tively stopping the action of the machine at any point in 'advance of the drawing. drum 10, the slide 33 will be drawn to the left in Fig. 2, in opposition to the pull of weight 88, and if the resistance be strong enough so as to carry the slide any considerable distance to the left; the slack of the spring 89 will be taken up, and finally the bar 68 Will be drawn to the left by said spring so as-to shift the beltfork 8 and The guideway 32 is made long enough so that the above described shifting of the belt fork 8 is effected when the slide 33 has moved to the left to a point about midway the length of said guideway. Even after the machine is disconnected from the source of power, it may. continue to operate for a short time due to the inertia of the moving parts, and any tension on the wire caused by such operation is compensated for by a further movement oftheslide 33 to the left along said guideway, against the pull of s. ring 89, thereby relieving the wire of unue strain.

. It is to be particularly noted'that the stop mechanisms act entirely independently of one another, although both act to move the bar 68 to the left. When the secondary stop mechanism performs its functlon the bar 68 is moved without affecting the position of the lever 72, which remains'in engagement with the catch lever 75. The machine is started by moving the bar (38 t0 the right, to

the position shown in Fig. 2, by means of a hand lever, not shown, whereby the lever 72 will also be carried to the right through the medium of the collar 71. p

I claim:

1. In a continuous wire drawing machine, a series of positively rotated drawing drums, a series of drawing dies one less in number than said drums, and arranged in alternating relation thereto,a movable tension device for the wire, arranged between each die of the series and the preceding drum, means, responsive to tension on the wire while being drawn onto the first drum of the series, for stopping the operation of the machine, and means actuated by the breakage of the wire etween the last drawing drum and the last die of the series for stopping the operation of the machine.

2. In a continuous wire drawing machine, the combination with a series of drawing dies and a series of positively rotating drawing drums, alternating with said drawing dies, of a movabletension device interposed betwecn each drum and die, a reel from which the wire is fed to the first drawing die and drum of the series, means responsive to tension on the wire between said reel and said die and'drum for stopping the JAMES P. DOOLEY.

ber, 1913.

Witnesses PENELOPE COMBERBACH, NELLIE WHALEN. 

